Music of the Year - 2012

After losing the number one spot in my charts last year, with the release of Infinity Overhead Minus the Bear reclaimed the number one position from Portugal. The Man. It seems that on average I listened to music less in 2012 than I did in 2011, seeing one fewer artist overall with a thousand plus plays. Another noteworthy observation is my neglect of albums that were released in 2012. Where only two of the top ten albums from 2011 had less than two hundred plays, a whopping six did this year.

Top Artists

1. Minus the Bear (1273)
2. Mutemath (1179 Plays)
3. Demon Hunter (1100 Plays)
4. Thrice (795 Plays)
5. The Dear Hunter (693 Plays)
6. Inhale Exhale (577 Plays)
7. Modest Mouse (474 Plays)
8. The Answering Machine (470 Plays)
9. Soilwork (453 Plays)
10. Deftones (451 Plays)

2012 Albums

1. Demon Hunter - True Defiance (Deluxe Edition) (624 Plays)
2. Minus the Bear - Infinity Overhead (546 Plays)
3. Inhale Exhale - Movement (209 Plays)
4. Circa Survive - Violent Waves (203)
5. Before Their Eyes - Redemption (196 Plays)
6. Our Last Night - Age of Ignorance (195 Plays)
7. Linkin Park - Living Things (181 Plays)
8. Deftones - Koi No Yokan (175 Plays)
9. As I Lay Dying - Awakened (144 Plays)
10. Lamb of God - Resolution (138 Plays)

First Impressions - Infinity Overhead

Minus the Bear recently posted the entirety of their new album on their website for their fan's listening pleasure, and I've gotta say, from what I've gathered in my listens so far where OMNI could be viewed as a stumble (not by me personally) Infinity Overhead sees the band back in full stride.

If there is one way to describe Infinity Overhead, it would be this: it is essentially an aggregate of all their past works, the best elements of all of their past LPs and EPs working in harmony. As a result of that, you can actually single out single songs as representing Minus the Bear's past albums. To give a couple examples, Zeroes seriously sounds like it was taken straight from Menos el Oso while the album's closing track Cold Company would fit in perfectly in Planet of Ice.

As previously mentioned, some view OMNI as something of a stumble by the Seattle-based band. While I don't necessarily share that same view, I can empathize with it. OMNI represented a more accessible and mainstream sound with a very strong pop influence. While that sound is still evident (see Lonely Gun), Infinity Overhead represents a return to form for Minus the Bear.

Expect my full review once the album drops next week.

Minus the Bear finally announce info regarding their fifth album!

Above is the trailer for the album. The trailer reveals the title of the album, Infinite Overhead. It also reveals the release date of August 28th.

I for one cannot get enough of the clip of the apparent title track. Now I'm salivating for more.

Album Review - Conversation Piece

Review

When Kurt Travis got unceremoniously dumped from Dance Gavin Dance for the return of former vocalist Johnny Craig I was definitely upset. Had I known that this album would come as a result of that event, I would instead be delighted at Travis' departure from DGD. While DGD stands as my all-time favorite post-hardcore band (although A Lot Like Birds is in a position to threaten that title), Kurt Travis far transcends anything he could have done with DGD in his debut with A Lot Like Bird's in their sophomore album Conversation Piece.

A question that really begs to be asked is what genre does A Lot Like Birds fall into? While they bill themselves strictly as a progressive band, upon a full listen-through of Conversation Piece they prove to be far more than that. In fact, Conversation Piece more or less represents three different genres: progressive, experimental, post-hardcore, and indie (yes indie). It's incredible how smoothly and easily the band makes the transition from genre to genre from song to song. As as example, while Properties of Fiction would strongly be considered post-hardcore with a fantastic interchange of Travis' singing and the screaming of Cory Lockwood, the next song, Truly Random Code, with it's guitar noodling and it's atmospheric electronics is, despite the presence of screams, essentially what I would strongly consider to be indie. Post-hardcore and indie being among my all-time favorite genres, this fusion is nothing short of bliss. Adding Kurt Travis and his top-notch clean vocals into the mix just takes the album to another level altogether.

Instrumentation certainly deserves discussion as well. As mentioned above, Conversation Piece proves to be a representation of various styles of music and with those differing styles come a vast range of instrumentation that is without a doubt impressive. From the chill guitar noodling of indie on Truly Random Code to the intricate and technical guitar-work of progressive and post-hardcore in tracks like Orange Time Machines Care and What Didn't Kill Me Just Got Stronger, A Lot Like Birds never fails to impress. Accompanying these varying guitar styles is the usage of various other musical elements to add to the experimentation, most notably tribal drums and electronics. It all comes together to create a musical package with an overall massive amount of variety, treating the listener to something different at each and every turn.

Verdict

After getting dumped from Dance Gavin Dance, Kurt Travis seems to have found a new home in A Lot Like Birds. With his addition came a complete style shift to something akin to a fusion of post-hardcore and indie, and it definitely proves to be among some of the best music I have ever heard. If you're into either genre (particularly post-hardcore) I strongly suggest that you look into this album.

Score

[5/5]

Top Picks

Truly Random Code, Vanity's Fair, Properties of Friction

Album Review - Odd Soul

Review

Mutemath's third effort, Odd Soul, sees them take a fairly significant, although seemingly natural, departure in sound and overall style over their first two albums. Rather than continue down the path of electronica infused indie and alt rock, though those elements of their music are still present every now and then, they've instead opted to assume a pre-dominantly blues influenced sound that is incredibly groovy and classic evoking thoughts of music from the sixties and seventies.

A genre shift can be a tricky proposition, but Mutemath make that transition flawlessly creating music at an equal or even higher level than of their past albums Armistice and Mutemath. For that excellence you have to look no farther than tracks like the title track and album opener "Odd Soul" and "Prytania", as well as first single "Blood Pressure". "Odd Soul" in particular is perhaps exudes plenty of swagger and groove, serving to open the album in a big way. "Prytania" follows, offering an infectious groove and an incredibly catchy chorus to tie it all together.

As noted earlier, the bands indie/alt rock/electronica roots are not completely left behind. In particular, the songs "All or Nothing" and "In No Time" sound as if they could be right at home in Armistice, slowing things down with their incredibly chill and relaxing mood and sound. Both tracks are nothing short of absolutely fantastic, both tracks prove to be standouts on the album with their dominant and beautiful usage of electronics accentuated with drums and guitar. While "All or Nothing" sounds akin to what's found on The Dear Hunter's Violet EP of The Color Spectrum "In No Time", takes a much more atmospheric approach that, paired with the beautiful lyrics and beautiful vocals of Paul Meany, accomplishes musical bliss.

Verdict

Despite the genre shift Odd Soul proves to be Mutemath's best effort to date, exuding excellence from beginning to end. I highly suggest anyone with a remote interest for music check this album out.

Score

[5/5]

Top Picks 

Odd Soul, Prytania, All or Nothing, Allies, Equals, In No Time

Music of the Year - 2011

I completely blanked on doing this, so a week late I present my top artists and albums from 2011 as observed from my charts over at Last.fm. Notably, for my top ten artists my numbers are down significantly from last year. Where I had Minus the Bear ranking in at number one with just under 2000 plays last year, this past year my highest was Portugal. The Man with just under 1300 plays. Also this year for top albums I compiled the list based upon my Last/fm charts rather than iTunes.

Top Artists

1. Portugal. The Man (1263 Plays)
2. Dance Gavin Dance (1260)
3. Silverstein (1123 Plays)
4. The Dear Hunter (1043 Plays)
5. Modest Mouse (980 Plays)
6. Madina Lake (851 Plays)
7. Soilwork (617 Plays)
8. Slipknot (593 Plays)
9. Emery (584 Plays)
10. August Burns Red (571 Plays)

2011 Albums

1. Downtown Battle Mountain II - Dance Gavin Dance (684 Plays)
2. Rescue (Deluxe Edition) - Silverstein (671 Plays)
3. Leveler (Deluxe Edition)  - August Burns (435 Plays)
4. The Color Spectrum The Complete Collection - The Dear Hunter (429 Plays)
5. In The Mountain In The Cloud - Portugal. The Man (395 Plays)
6. World War III (Deluxe Editon) - Madina Lake (348 Plays)
7. Beast (Deluxe Editon) - DevilDriver (318 Plays)
8. Children Of Fire - Oh, Sleeper (268 Plays)
9. Scurrilous - Protest the Hero (164 Plays)
10. Taking Back Sunday - Taking Back Sunday (139 Plays)

Album Review in Brief - Children of Fire

[5/5]

Oh, Sleeper certainly seems to have an affinity for concept albums. Their previous release, Son of the Morning, told of the battle between god and satan. Children of Fire picks up where that album left off. With a subject like this, intensity and aggression is to be expected. That could be observed in select tracks on Son of the Morning (World Without A Sun, The Finisher) and can be observed to a greater extent in Children of Fire, that increase in aggression making Children of Fire stand out amongst Oh, Sleeper's other albums in terms of overall energy and heaviness. This can be seen in tracks like Endseekers and The Marriage of Steel and Skin. To balance out the aggression, melody is infused throughout the album. Not only does melody excellently co-exist with heaviness in tracks like Hush Yael, Oh ,Sleeper goes so far as to calm things down with a couple purely acoustic tracks. Overall, Oh Sleeper continues to step up their game with their best effort yet, Children of Fire.

Top Picks: Endseekers, The Marriage of Steel and Skin, Hush Yael

Album Review in Brief - In The Mountain In The Cloud

[5/5]

Portugal The Man is one of those bands to consistently release excellent music, and In The Mountain In The Coud is yet another excellent album. Some were concerned that the jump to a major label (Atlantic) would have a negative effect on their music, that the label would push them to make more conventional and mainstream music, and it's abundantly clear that they provided plenty of freedom in the creative process to preserve their sound and musical identity. With that in mind, ITMITC is fundamentally a further evolution of Portugal The Man's sound. If you've listened to Portugal. The Man you'll know that they never like to maintain a certain sound from album to album, they always like to change it up. ITMITC is the same in that regard, this time around seeing a noticeable slight increase in the use of electronics. Highlights of the album include Got It All (This Can't Living Now) which feels quite reminiscent of Satanic Satanist, Share With Me The Sun with it's incredibly catchy chorus and sublim guitar work, and the album's closing track Sleep Forever which is perhaps one of the best tracks that Portugal. The Man has ever recorded, as such the song's only conceivable flaw is the fact that it has to come to an end. While there was little doubt before, with ITMITC Portugal. The Man have absolutely proven themselves to be one of the best indie bands that I have had the pleasure of listening to. As a testament to that fact, I swear every time I listen to In The Mountain In The Cloud I get hooked into listening to it over and over again, it's undeniably addictive.

Top Picks: So American, Got It All (This Can't Be Living Now), Share With Me The Sun, Sleep Forever

Portugal. The Man Acoustic Live Stream Performance

Streaming video by Ustream

Album Review - Leveler

[5/5]

August Burns Red never really fails in delivering metalcore masterpieces, they certainly raised the bar with Constellations and with their latest, Leveler, they've managed to set the bar even higher. As to be expected,  August Burns Red's technicality and musicianship take center stage. They even take that musicianship to a higher level with excellent spanish guitar interludes within the album's second track "Internal Cannon".. While one might think that a bit of acoustics like that would feel completely out of place on a particularly heavier and technical metalcore, they would be wrong in thinking that. They meld and fit into with the surrounding metalcore perfectly. In fact August Burns Red completely fleshes the usage of acoustics within the song out with a fully acoustic version as a bonus track on the deluxe edition of the album. As they demonstrate their softer more melodic side in Internal Cannon, the increased aggressiveness of the album really shines straight away within the third track of the album, Divisions. The track starts out mercilessly, but tastefully concludes with a melodic guitar solo. That aggressiveness is well evident throughout the majority of the album, featuring numerous bass drops and even death growls from Jake Luhrs. As mentioned previously, the deluxe edition of the album features an acoustic version of Internal Cannon. Not only that, it also features an indie band's interpretation of Pangea and a piano version of Boys To Fall. Those three tracks collectively represent quite a juxtaposition with metalcore stylings of the album itself. It's quite refreshing to be honest.

Top Picks: Divisions, Internal Cannon, 40 Nights, Leveler

Album Review in Brief - Scurrilous

[5/5]

Protest the Hero never cease to amaze me with their endless energy and technicality, and their latest effort Scurrilous certainly seems to take those two factors to a yet higher level over their past efforts. As to be expected fro Protest the Hero, from beginning to end the album is just packed with beautiful technicality. Certainly the album doesn't quite have the same level of stand out as Fortress with a decrease in screamed vocals, a complete lack of that custom percussion that I love oh so much and the lyrics aren't exactly anything to write home about, but those two negatives ultimately never really detract from the album because in the end its the music that really matters and impresses. As previously mentioned, the album is just packed with technicality and that is certainly Protest the Hero's calling card. The level of musicianship here, as with their past albums, is absolutely awe-inspiring. Some real highlights of that technicality can be found in Tapestry and The Reign of Unending Terror. Overall, while not exactly upstaging their previous efforts, Protest the Hero have managed to release yet another truly fantastic album.

Top Picks: Tapestry, The Reign of Unending Terror, C'est La Vie

Album Review in Brief - Beast

With each album DevilDrover never ceases to amaze me with their capacity to step the energy and brutality of their music up another notch, and Beast is without a doubt no exception to that trend. In fact, the album's sheer amount of energy and brutality just about puts that of their past work to shame. Because of this it is quite fitting that the album is titled Beast. Dead to Rights kicks things off with a bang and the album just builds from there, never losing momentum, never relenting. It will grab a hold of you and refuse to let go until it's conclusion, a live recording of Fury of Our Maker's Hand track Grinfucked. While the whole album shines, a couple tracks that really stand out are the likes of Talons Out (Teeth Sharpened), Coldblooded, Blur, and Lend Myself to the Night. Each of those four tracks really showcase DevilDriver's brutality and increased technicality and musicianship.

Album Review in Brief - Attack of the Wolf King

Though a little late, I thought that I'd start transferring some of my pre-blog album reviews here. So,  without further ado:

[5/5]

After showing an impressive amount of improvement with 2008's Dreamer, Haste the Day make an incredibly noteworthy return with Attack Of The Wolf King. Despite undergoing even further line-up changes (losing the Chaulk brothers, drummer Devin and guitarist and vocalist Brennan), they've only improved. New guitarists Dave Krysl and Scotty Whelan prove their worth with impressive technicality and meaty breakdowns and bassist (and notably only original member remaining) Mike Murphy picks up on the clean vocals, proving to be a little higher than Brennan, but just as good if a little reminiscent of the cleans on Pressure the Hinges. Really noteworthy is the flow of the album throughout. With a few exceptions, each songs flows right on into the next, and while this proves to only emphasize how brief the album is, the transitions in many cases work to excellent effect. Key example, the transition from Merit for Sadness to The Un-Manifest. The quick swap from the closing breakdown of Merit for Sadness to the chaos and discord of the intro of The Un-Manifest is what I can only describe as absolutely amazing.

While there is no changing the fact that Haste the Day is no longer the same band as they were with Jimmy Ryan, there is no denying the strives and improvements that they have made with this latest effort.

Top Picks: Wake Up The Sun, The Un-Manifest, The Place Where Most Deny, Crush Resistance

Album Review - Downtown Battle Mountain II

Over the last couple of years Dance Gavin Dance has undergone several line up changes, at one point leaving only Will Swan and Matt Mingus as the last remaining original members. With Downtown Battle Mountain II it's as if no line-up changes ever-happened, with the exception of the absence of guitarist Sean O'Sullivan. With all these recent line up changes DGD's sound has gone through some considerable changes, evolving largely thanks to Kurt Travis and Will Swan's impressive guitar skill. Now with Travis kicked out and Johnny Craig back you would probably assume that they reverted to their sound as of the original Downtown Battle Mountain. While in a sense they have, thanks to the absence of O'Sullivan Will Swan takes on responsibility for all guitars and for the large part maintains the musical developments of the past two albums and really takes the opportunity to shine.

The main topic of discussion of Downtown Battle Mountain II is that of the vocals. Vocals-wise Happiness found a complete shift for the band, with Travis doing clean vocals and Swan taking on the screaming vocals in Jon Mess's absence. They both performed up to par, proving that they both have what it takes to fill the rather big shoes left behind by both Craig and Mess. Now, as discussed earlier, Craig and Mess are back and they're both just as fantastic if not better (largely in Mess's case) as they were in the original Downtown Battle Mountain. Again and again Johnny Craig has proven himself as an amazing vocalist, and Downtown Battle Mountain II is no different. The most notable highlights of his performance are found in the likes of Purple Reign, Blue Dream, and Elder Goose. While he is an amazing vocalist, Craig doesn't exactly prove himself as a lyricist. Paling in comparison to those of Travis, the main content of his lyrics are of girls, sex and drinking. If you are at all familiar with mainstream music you'll know that those are fairly common and cliche topics, and I expect much more out of a band as extraordinary and of as high a caliber as DGD. Then there is Jon Mess. He is one of the more unique screams that I've heard and he further proves himself here with a marked improvement to his screaming. They're both stronger and shriller, taking a more commanding role throughout the album. Mess writes his own lyrics and they're incredibly strange and completely random as always.

In terms of instrumentals Downtown Battle Mountain II strikes me essentially as a continuation Happiness. To an extent hey are reminiscent of those of the original DBM, but they have taken the experience and growth that they've acquired (they mostly being Will Swan and Matt Mingus) from the past two albums with Kurt Travis and applied it well. Thanks to Will Swan assuming duty for both guitar positions, he is allowed to really shine and show off his skill. I can pinpoint no specific songs that really standout, Swan always delivers his technical and funky guitar work and his performance is really strong and consistent throughout. When it comes to drums Matt Mingus performs fantastically, bringing a high level of skill as has come to be the expectation that fits in perfectly with Will Swan's technical guitar-work.

Though initially hesitant at the spurning of Travis and the re-acceptance of Craig, I couldn't be more happy with how Downtown Battle Mountain has turned out. I may even stray as far as to suggest that this has the potential to rank as my all-time favorite DGD album.

Album Review in Brief - Emarosa

[ 2 / 5 ]

Relativity was a fantastic album that really showcased how amazing Johnny Craig's vocals can be, especially accompanied and backed up by technical instrumentals. Sadly, their latest self-titled effort proves to fall far froms the heights that they achieved with Relativity. Replacing the technical and always intriguing guitar work are droning, muddied, simply uninteresting guitars that only go so far as to create background noise and make no attempt to strive any further. This in turn, to a degree, casts a negative light on Johnny Craig's vocals, which come off for the most part as lack luster when in comparison to his performance in Relativity and his efforts with Dance Gavin Dance. Make no mistake, it's still Johnny Craig and even degraded and dragged down as they are here he still never fails to impress me. I sincerely hope that this isn't a sign of what is to come from Emarosa, because if it is I'm afraid that I find little reason to follow these guys any longer.

Early Impressions - Downtown Battle Mountain 2 (Dance Gavin Dance)

Thanks to pre-ordering via iTunes, I was able to obtain the album late last night and begin a play-through.  absolutely love what I've heard so far. Sure I was a big fan of Kurt Travis, but there isn't any denying that Johnny Craig is an amazing vocalist. This is evident throughout the entire album, though most notably on Purple Reign. Jon Mess has returned as well, taking back the reigns on the screaming from Will Swan, and he has made a significant improvement, sounding overall more shrill. In terms of instrumentals, they are reminiscent of those of the original DBM, but they have taken the experience and growth that they've acquired (they mostly being Will Swan and Matt Mingus) from the past two albums with Kurt Travis and applied it well. The sound from Happiness even shines through here and there, most notably Spooks.

Though initially hesitant at the spurning of Travis and the re-acceptance of Craig, I couldn't be more happy with what I've heard of this album. I may even go so far as to suggest that this may rank as my all-time favorite DGD album.

I'll post a complete review soon.

Early Impressions - Beast (by DevilDriver)

I just purchased the special edition of the album from iTunes last night, and based upon my first listen through there is only one word that is sufficient enough to describe this album: beast. I don't know how they do it, but DevilDriver seems to get heavier and more extreme with each album, and Beast is without a doubt no exception. Dead to Rights kicks things off with a bang and the album just builds from there, never losing momentum, never relenting. It will grab you and refuse to let go until it's conclusion, a live recording of Fury of Our Maker's Hand track Grinfucked. So far I am most impressed by two songs in particular, Talons Out (Teeth Sharpened) and Blur. Talons Out gets recognized for it's pure ferocity and Blur for how impressive the musicianship is, especially towards it's conclusion.

Expect a full review soon.

Music of the Year - 2010

Rather than struggle to place bands and albums on a purely subjective basis, I've decided to rely mostly upon the number of plays I have on each album and total number of plays on each artist. Taking inspiration from Last.fm, I will do general top artists for the year based upon my scrobbles irregardless of whether an album was released by that artist or not. Then I will go through my top ten albums of the year strictly on the basis of plays.

Artists
1. Minus the Bear (1967 Plays)
2. Demon Hunter (1439 Plays)
3. Soilwork (1001 Plays)
4. Disarmonia Mundi (910 Plays)
5. Haste the Day (901 Plays)
6. Underoath (838 Plays)
7. Circa Survive (769 Plays)
8. Portugal. The Man (720 Plays)
9. Our Last Night (702 Plays)
10. Ill Nino (623 Plays)

2010 Albums
1. The World Is a Thorn - Demon Hunter (53 Plays)
2. Omni - Minus the Bear (50 Plays)
3. We Will All Evolve - Our Last Night (50 Plays)
4. Disambiguation - Underoath (40 Plays)
5. Blue Sky Noise - Circa Survive (32 Plays)
6. Attack of the Wolf King - Haste the Day (30 Plays)
7. The Panic Broadcast - Soilwork (29 Plays)
8. American Ghetto - Portugal. The Man (22 Plays)
9. Dead New World - Ill Nino (18 Plays)
10. The Powerless Rise - As I Lay Dying (11 Plays)

Album of the Decade - All Hope is Gone

Slipknot is one of my all-time favorite bands, in fact for a good while was my all-time favorite, and All Hope Is Gone proves to be their best work yet. Proving to be even heavier and more experimental than their previously released Volume 3: The Subliminal Verses, everything just worked. Even the increase of sung vocals, which most consider to make the album too much like Stone Sour.

The album starts off with a bang with the incredibly beast Execute/Gematria (The Killing Name). I am completely in awe of Gematria. It's pure aggression, treating the listener to anger and politically-charged lyrics. And all this is accompanied by some of the best breakdowns that I have had the pleasure of hearing. Sulfur follows, infusing more melody but still maintaining the momentum that Gematria established. Then comes Psychosocial. The beat provided by the custom percussion encourages plenty of headbanging, and the breakdowns are absolutely fantastic (seeing the entire band yell "The limits of the dead!" amidst a din of custom percussion). Jumping ahead to Butcher's Hook, through inspiration of Meshuggah Slipknot takes a shot at polyrhythm and despite the haters it works fantastically well. This is followed up by Gehenna, perhaps Slipknot's most experimental track to date. Giving a spooky vibe with some excellently utilized samples and custom percussion to accompany the slower pace, it is what you would fully expect out of Slipknot while also something new. Following this is what has to be the second heaviest track on the album, This Cold Black. Not as notable or impactful as Gematria, but still notable nonetheless. Then jumping forward to the final track of the album, the title track, "All Hope Is Gone". The lyrics here, just as Gematria, are politically-charged and accompany some pretty amazing instrumentals.

There is nothing about the album that I can find fault with. Sure maybe thats the fan-boy in me talking, but as I stated earlier, everything just works.

Artist of the Decade - Minus the Bear

For those of you who know me me, this probably isn't that much of a surprise. Well, actually, it probably is somewhat of a surprise seeing as only a year or two ago I would have given this title to none other than Slipknot. In light of this, I think it needs to be said that my taste in music has made a pretty large shift in the last couple of years. Prior, my library consisted of mostly mainstream artists, the sort that you'd here on the radio on a regular basis. Then came my introduction to iTunes and suggestions based upon what albums I was looking at and buying. That really began to open things up for me, introducing me to genres the likes of metalcore and melodic death metal. Then I joined Last.fm and that encouraged even further expansion of my tastes, introducing me the some incredibly amazing indie and experimental artists. And Last.fm is where I first ran into Minus the Bear. I was looking at the Similar Artists page for some other indie/experimental artist (I believe it may have been Circa Survive) and I saw them. Interested, I looked them up on Myspace and sampled a few of their tracks. I instantly fell in love with their music. If I can recall correctly, the song that really made an impression on me was the incredibly amazing Ice Monster from the incredibly fantastic album Planet of Ice. I'm not entirely sure, but I don't think I've ever fallen in love with a band so quickly (in fact, a good number of my favorites I initially disliked).

From my initial encounter, I decided to look them up at the library and order whatever albums (if any) were available. Thankfully, Planet of Ice was. Then soon after I got a hold of an iTunes gift card and on a whim decided to invest in their second album Menos el Oso (To make note, Minus the Bear in spanish). It has got to be some of the best ten dollars that I have ever spent on music, or anything else in fact. A couple weeks later I got another iTunes gift card and downloaded a copy of Highly Refined Pirates. I listened to these three albums endlessly, I simply could not get enough of them. To state it flat out, I racked up about a thousand plays of Minus the Bear in the space of a couple months. And in a couple more months that figure doubled. And now it stands at three thousand plus with anywhere from fifty to sixty plays on each album.

To be continued...